Sometimes, when outgoing New Bedford High athletic director Mike Correia walks by a practice, he'll see a student-athlete jog in, 15-20 minutes late, hand their coach a yellow slip and join in the next drill.

Few things make him prouder.

He goes so far as to call it "a beautiful thing."

Those yellow slips represent a student who has sought extra help from a teacher after school and is excused from the start of practice. Those vital moments of tutoring must be paying off, because despite the hurricane of academic issues swirling around New Bedford High, the athletic programs have proven to be a moment of sunshine in the eye of the storm.

The strongest beam shines upon the girls tennis squad.

When Correia received the quarterly report cards for every team recently — as he has every quarter for 13 years — he had to stop for a second when looking at the girls tennis report. He'd never seen one so stunning.

Of the 16 girls on the team, eight had straight A's, three more had all A's and one B, and more than two-thirds of the team had all A's and B's.

"I've never seen half of any team with straight A's," Correia said. "It's really hard to do. Usually, you're glad if you have 15 or 20 percent."

But it's not a phenomenon limited to the tennis team. In the second quarter of the 2012-13 school year, the Whalers didn't have a single student-athlete academically ineligible for the first time in Correia's 13 years. Then, a year later, they did it again during the second quarter of the 2013-14 school year. Last week, they received their third-quarter report cards and had just one ineligible student-athlete. The school, according to Correia, usually has had between two and four ineligible student-athletes every quarter.

"I didn't know if it was an anomaly," Correia said of the second quarter in 2012-13. "Then when it happened this year, it's not just luck. My coaches really do a good job in monitoring the kids' grades and going back for extra help. To the kids' credit, they want to play sports and are carrying their end."

In order to stay academically eligible to participate in sports, a student must pass more than two credits per quarter, as laid out by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. Most students take three-to-four credits at a time. They also must pass attendance benchmarks, but Correia said that's usually a "non-issue with our athletes. If they don't come to school, they don't practice. Then they don't play." He said attendance rates among student-athletes are around 98 percent.

As those numbers prove, there are few incentives as influential in improving

In order to stay academically eligible to participate in sports, a student must pass more than two credits per quarter, as laid out by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. Most students take three-to-four credits at a time. They also must pass attendance benchmarks, but Correia said that's usually a "non-issue with our athletes. If they don't come to school, they don't practice. Then they don't play." He said attendance rates among student-athletes are around 98 percent.

As those numbers prove, there are few incentives as influential in improving grades as participating in sports.

"It's a tremendous carrot that I have," Correia said. "We have programs that kids really want to be a part of. They know that in order to be a part of it they have to come to school, on time, and behave in class and get it done academically. ... I'm very fortunate they love sports so much and they're going the extra mile."

No team better exemplifies that than girls tennis. While they haven't quite enjoyed the same success on the court as in the classroom — although they recently won their second straight match after starting the season 0-5 — coach Chris Santos leaves no doubt where his priorities are.

"I'm very proud of them; that's a great accomplishment," he said. "We stress that they're student-athletes, not just athletes. It shows we're doing the right thing."

Santos said he doesn't do anything other coaches aren't doing, placing the credit to his girls' success squarely on their shoulders.

"They've done it from the time they were small until now," he said. "They have great work ethics in the classroom and on the court. These kids have really stepped up their game academically."

He also noted many of them are active outside the regular school day and after-school sports. Some are in Key Club, or the International Club, while others are in the band or take AP classes.

"What I see is kids who take it very serious," he said. "They just seem to be very active and they keep it up academically. They want to stay busy. That's a big thing."

Santos, now in his 12th season at the helm, also said that despite the girls tennis team's struggles competitively — despite its two-match winning streak, it is 2-23 dating back to the start of the 2013 season — the program is growing in size. He's been used to turnouts in the low 20s on the first day of practice. This year 38 signed up and 31 showed up the first day of practice.

"It's nice to see that successful turnout," he said. "I had to make a few cuts, but the ones I have, I'm very happy with how they're progressing."

Correia, who spreads the credit for New Bedford athletic's academic successes among the students, coaches, teachers, guidance counselors and administrators, said the key is progress reports. Students can no longer flub their way through a quarter by claiming their classes are in order.

"It's a simple recipe," Correia said. "It starts with coaches who care and coaches who want to get the best out of their athletes. Progress reports are a big part of what they're doing."

He recalls stopping by a softball practice and running into senior Emma Finnerty, who has been wait-listed at Harvard and counts Boston College as a safety school. Correia had just seen her third-quarter report card, and for once it wasn't straight-A's. He was shocked to see a B+ in an AP math class.

"Emma," he joked with her, "that one math class, it's keeping you from straight A's."